Pipe wrench

ABSTRACT

A tool that can be utilized to grip and turn small diameter pipes and rods comprises an elongated handle having a jaw angularly protruding from one end thereof and an abutment surface at the remaining end facing the jaw. A second jaw is longitudinally aligned between the jaw and surface abutment. It provides an outwardly extending shank portion slidably received within a channel provided on the handle. The second jaw is arranged to face the first jaw and slide longitudinally along the handle relative thereto. The outer end of the shank portion is threaded to receive an adjusting nut positioned between the abutment surface and an outer end of the channel. By turning the adjusting nut, the distance between the first and second jaw may be selectively varied.

United States Patent 11 1 Nockleby 1451 Jan. 28, 1975 1 PIPE WRENCH Raymond B. Nnckleby, Rt. 1, Kalispell, Mont. 59901 [22] Filed: Apr. 22, 1974 [21] App]. No.: 462,963

[76] Inventor:

Hamilton 81/92 Kerr 81/175 Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-James G. Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wells, St, John & Roberts [57] ABSTRACT A tool that can be utilized to grip and turn small diameter pipes and rods comprises an elongated handle having a jaw angularly protruding from one end thereof and an abutment surface at the remaining end facing the jaw. A second jaw is longitudinally aligned between the jaw and surface abutment. It provides an outwardly extending shank portion slidably received within a channel provided on the handle. The second jaw is arranged to face the first jaw and slide longitudinally along the handle relative thereto. The outer end of the shank portion is threaded to receive an adjusting nut positioned between the abutment surface and an outer end of the channel. By turning the adjusting nut, the distance between the first and second jaw may be selectively varied.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures HTENTEUJANPBWB 3,862,582

FIG 1 m 10) FIGZ PIPE WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related basically to pipe wrenches and more particularly to such wrenches utilized for gripping and turning small diameter pipes and rods.

It is a difficult procedure to grip and turn pipes or rods of small diameter with conventional pipe wrenches. Such wrenches are usually rather large and bulky to an extent that they may not be easily utilized in restricted areas. Further, most known pipe wrenches provide an adjusting sleeve or nut that is situated adjacent to the gripping jaws. Therefore, the user must have hand access to that area to properly adjust the spacing between the jaws in order to assure a firm grip on the object or workpiece. Therefore, access must be available for this purpose. In restricted environments, these adjustments may not be easily made and the adjusting process must be accomplished by trial and error by fitting the jaws to the object, observing how the opposed jaws engage the object, removing the tool from the object, and again adjusting the jaws to a more desirable spacing. This process is time consuming and frustrating, especially when access to the pipe or rod is substantially restricted.

U.S. Pat. No. 713,407, granted to DeFord, discloses a pipe wrench with an adjusting screw at its outer end. The adjusting nut and screw arrangement of this device, however, does not includesufficient thread surface to warrant heavy use. Further, such an adjusting nut, although serviceable, is not easily operated when an object is gripped between the wrench jaws.

US. Pat. No. 2,516,395, granted to Kerr, discloses a wrench having floating mounted movable jaws, the inside of which is adjusted relative to the outer jaw by a screw having a knob located at the outward end of the wrench handle.

Other U.S. patents of interest are US. Pat. Nos. 929,125 to Garner and 83 6,571 to Fortin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A pipe wrench is described herein comprising an elongated handle extending between an outer end to an inner end and having a first jaw thereon projecting angularly from the inner end and facing its outer end. A second jaw is also provided facing the first jaw, having an elongated shank thereon protruding outwardly therefrom to an outer threaded shank end. A recessed channel on the handle intermediate its outer and inner ends is provided to slidably receive the elongated shank and to define a path of movement of the second jaw along the handle relative to the first jaw. The channel is complementary in cross section to the cross section of the shank. An abutment surface is provided on the handle at its outer end. It projects angularly therefrom in opposition to the first jaw. An adjusting nut is included to threadably engage the threaded end of the shank. It extends longitudinally outward from the second jaw toward the abutment surface, for operative engagement therewith. The adjusting nut limits movement of the second jaw relative to the first jaw. The adjusting nut may be turned about the axis of the shank to enable selective adjustmentof the distance between the first and second jaws. A coil spring is also provided within the channel between the shank and the handle to normally urge the shank and handle apart within the confines of the channel.

It is a first object of my invention to provide a pipe wrench that is uniformly thin in construction to enable its use in narrow or restricted space.

It is a further object to provide such a wrench that includes an adjustment nut located adjacent the outer handlel end so adjustment can be made while the jaws of the wrench are closed on the work object, such as a pipe or rod, in a restricted environment.

A yet further object is to provide such a wrench wherein the jaw spacing may be closely adjusted to facilitate engagement of relatively small rods and pipes.

Another object is to provide such a wrench that is substantially less expensive to manufacture and more simple in construction than previously known comparable wrenches.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent uponreading the following disclosure which, taken with the accompanying drawings,'discloses a preferred form of the present invention. 7

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the wrench;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the wrench as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectioned view of the wrench shown engaging a workpiece;

FIG. 4 is a sectioned view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an operational view similar to FIG. 3 showing the elements of the wrench and their relative positions taken in response to a torsional force directed about the axis of the workpiece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The intended use of the present invention is for the purpose of turning objects such as the pipe illustrated in the drawings at 9 about a desired turning axis, usually the central axis of the pipe or rod engaged between the jaws of the wrench.

The wrench itself is indicated by reference numeral 10. It includes an elongated handle 11 extending from an inner end 13 to an outer end 14. A first jaw 15 is located at the inner end 13 and projects angularly therefrom to face the outer end 14. Jaw 15 is provided with a serrated surface that forms a plurality of teeth 16 utilized to firmly grip and prevent rotation of a workpiece relative to the handle 11.

An abutment surface 17 also angularly protrudes from the outer end 14 of handle 11. Surface 17 faces the first jaw 15. It is intended that the elements described above be constructed essentially in a single piece. However, it may be desirable to provide the first jaw 15 with replaceable teeth.

A second jaw 18 faces the first jaw 15. It includes longitudinal shank 20 that extends outwardly toward the abutment surface 17. Shank 20 includes an outer end 21 that is tapped with screw threads 23 received within a threaded bore 25 of an adjusting nut 24.

Adjusting nut 24, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, includes an open end 27 and a closed outer end 26. Closed end 26 is domed to present as small a point of engagement as possible with abutment surface 17. Such a small point of engagement provides the least possible frictional resistance to turning movement of the nut 24 about the axis of shank 20. This feature facilitates ease in selective adjustment of the first and second jaws l5 and 18 about a workpiece such as the pipe 9.

The threaded bore 25 of adjusting nut 24 is sufficiently deep to receive substantially the full length of the threaded portion of shank 20. The length of threaded bore 25 provides strong engagement between the nut and shank to thereby enable the wrench to transfer relatively high torsional forces to a workpiece without damage to the screw threads 23. Nut 24 also includes an elongated knurled surface 29 about its exterior periphery. The elongation of surface 29 facilitates adjustment of the jaw spacing by providing a substantially large gripping surface to the user.

The shank 20 is slidably carried within a recessed channel 31 that is mounted to handle 11 by rivets or other convenient means. Channel 31 includes an inner end 32 spaced along the handle from first jaw and an outer end 33 spaced inward from the abutment surface 17. The location of outer channel end 33 is such that the distance between end 33 and first jaw 15 is less than the distance between the second jaw 18 and the outer end of shank 20. Further, the outer channel end 33 is inwardly spaced from abutment surface 17 by a distance slightly greater than the length of adjusting nut 24. Therefore, the shank is slidably received within the channel so that its outer shank end 21 is exposed outward of the channel end 33. The spacing between channel end 33 and abutment surface 17 enables positioning of the adjusting nut 24 to threadably accept the shank end 21 between channel end 33 and abutment surface 17.

The internal periphery 31a of channel 31 is complementary in cross section to the outer peripheral surface 20a of shank 20 (FIG. 4). The rectangular shank 20 is therefore prevented from turning about its length, but is free to slide longitudinally relative to the length of the handle 11. This arrangement assures proper longitudinal alignment of the first and second jaws 15 and 18, so that the jaw teeth of the jaws oppose one another on opposite sides of the workpiece 9.

A coil spring 36 is provided between handle 11 and shank 20 to normally bias the shank 20 away from the handle within the confines of the channel 31. Spring 36 slidably engages shank 20 and fits within a recess 37 formed in handle 11 that prevents longitudinal movement of the spring. An opening 39, (FIG. 2) is provided in the channel 31 to allow access to spring 36, facilitating its removal and replacement if necessary. Opening 39 is sufficiently large to enable the tips of a needlenose pliers to be inserted therethrough to grip spring 36.

It is believed from the above description that the operation of the present invention may now be easily understood.

To initially position the jaws l5 and 18 on a workpiece, the user first roughly positions the jaws apart from one another by a distance he assumes to be greater than the cross sectional dimension of the object to be gripped. He then fits the wrench with the jaws on either side of the object. By rotating adjusting nut 24, the jaws l5 and 18 may be moved relatively together or apart to engage the jaws with the workpiece so that first jaw 15 is engaged on one side of the object, second jaw 18 is engaged on the opposite side of the object, and the domed end of adjusting nut 24 is in abutment with the abutment surface 17. This condition is best illustrated by FIG. 3 of the drawings. Once this condition is achieved, the user may apply a torsional force at the outward end of the handle 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 5. Resulting movement of second jaw 18 and shank 20 is a pivotal movement about a radius from the point of engagement between the domed surface of adjusting nut 24 and the abutment surface 17. Because of the direction of force, the second jaw 18 is forced to pivot toward the handle 11. In doing so the object is more tightly gripped between the jaws. This gripping action occurs because of the relative angular orientation of the two jaws l5 and 18, converging inwardly toward handle 11, (FIG. 2).

To relax the grip on the object, the user simply moves the wrench handle 11 in a direction opposite to that indicated in FIG. 5 and rotates adjusting nut 24 so that the jaws are moved relatively apart and away from the outside surface of the object.

It may have become obvious from the foregoing description that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the intended scope of my invention. Therefore, only the following claims are to be taken as definitions of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A pipe wrench comprising:

an elongated handle extending longitudinally from an outer end to an inner end, said inner end having a first jaw thereon projecting angularly therefrom and facing said outer handle end;

a second jaw facing the first jaw and having an elongated shank protruding outwardly therefrom to an outer threaded shank end;

a recessed longitudinal channel on said handle intermediate its outer and inner ends, slidably receiving the elongated shank to define a path of movement of the second jaw longitudinally along the handle relative to the first jaw;

said channel being recessed in a configuration complementary in cross section to the cross section of said shank;

an abutment surface on said outer handle end projecting angularly therefrom and facing said first l an adjusting nut threadably engaging the threaded end of said shank and extending therefrom outwardly toward said abutment surface for operative engagement therewith to limit outward movement of the second jaw relative to the first jaw;

wherein said adjusting nut may be turned about the axis of said threaded shank end to selectively adjust the distance between said first and second jaws; and

a spring within said channel between said shank and handle to normally urge said shank and handle relatively apart within the confines of said channel.

2. The pipe wrench as set out in claim 1 wherein said channel includes an outer channel end spaced inwardly from said abutment surface by a distance slightly greater than the length of said adjusting nut and outwardly from the first jaw by a distance less than the length of said shank between said second jaw and outer shank end.

3. The pipe wrench set out in claim 1 wherein said adjusting nut includes an exposed elongated knurled peripheral surface and is closed at an outward end thereof and open at an inwardly facing end for threadably receiving said threaded outer shank end, said outer end of the adjusting nut being domed to provide minimal frictional resistance to rotational movement about the axis of said threaded shank end when engaged against said abutment surface. 

1. A pipe wrench comprising: an elongated handle extending longitudinally from an outer end to an inner end, said inner end having a first jaw thereon projecting angularly therefrom and facing said outer handle end; a second jaw facing the first jaw and having an elongated shank protruding outwardly therefrom to an outer threaded shank end; a recessed longitudinal channel on said handle intermediate its outer and inner ends, slidably receiving the elongated shank to define a path of movement of the second jaw longitudinally along the handle relative to the first jaw; said channel being recessed in a configuration complementary in cross section to the cross section of said shank; an abutment surface on said outer handle end projecting angularly therefrom and facing said first jaw; an adjusting nut threadably engaging the threaded end of said shank and extending therefrom outwardly toward said abutment surface for operative engagement therewith to limit outward movement of the second jaw relative to the first jaw; wherein said adjusting nut may be turned about the axis of said threaded shank end to selectively adjust the distance between said first and second jaws; and a spring within said channel between said shank and handle to normally urge said shank and handle relatively apart within the confines of said channel.
 2. The pipe wrench as set out in claim 1 wherein said channel includes an outer channel end spaced inwardly from said abutment surface by a distance slightly greater than the length of said adjusting nut and outwardly from the first jaw by a distance less than the length of said shank between said second jaw and outer shank end.
 3. The pipe wrench set out in claim 1 wherein said adjusting nut includes an exposed elongated knurled peripheral surface and is closed at an outward end thereof and open at an inwardly facing end for threadably receiving said threaded outer shank end, said outer end of the adjusting nut being domed to provide minimal frictional resistance to rotational movement about the axis of said threaded shank end when engaged against said abutment surface. 